Two reports on Tanzania, released separately by the Amnesty and Human Rights Watch NGOs, charge President John Magufuli’s government with stifling the free press, opposition politicians and NGOs. The reports follow several years of progressively harsher laws and penalties since Magufuli was elected in 2015. The country has seen routine…
It’s been a year since Russian journalists Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguyev and Orkhan Dzhemal were killed in the Central African Republic (CAR) while working on an investigative project for Russian exile and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The three seasoned journalists were launching a probe into the activities of alleged Russian…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Authorities in Russia insist the deaths of three investigative journalists in the Central African Republic happened because the Investigation Management Center they were working for failed to provide them with adequate security – a claim that counters a newly released report that ties Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and the private…
The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on authorities in Tanzania to release two CPJ staffers they say were detained Wednesday night in Dar es Salaam. Angela Quintal, the CPJ coordinator for Africa, right, and colleague Muthoki Mumo went missing from their hotel room after officers who said they were…
The Central African Republic is making arrangements for Russian investigators to access the site where three Russian journalists were killed on July 30, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow. TASS reports that Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, speaking during a regular weekly briefing Thursday, said Moscow has…
In Moscow, there was an outpouring of support at the Central House of Journalists following the news that three Russian journalists – Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguyev, and Orkhan Dzhemal – were killed in an ambush near the Central African Republic town of Sibut. Vyacheslav Umanovsky, head of the Russian journalists union, said one…
Eight journalists working for The Nation in Kenya resigned together on Tuesday in a collective decision meant to protest the lack of journalistic freedom, and actions that “suggest state capture” of the media outlet. “Just wanted to say that this was a very hard decision for me, not just because…
Journalists from Africa’s mainland Least Developed Countries (LDC) or island nations are invited to submit work to the United Nations on how sustainable energy is improving their communities – and potentially receive an expenses-paid invitation to cover the Sustainable Energy for All Forum in Portugal in May. The contest is designed…
In troubled Cameroon, where the government is disputing a death toll of 17 in weekend protests as reported by Amnesty International, a new appeal has emerged – this time from Anglophone journalists complaining of hate speech directed at their communities by their own colleague at Vision 4. Some 45 media…
A new human rights report on Chad finds a disturbing trend in government repression of rights activists, journalists, labor leaders and community organizers, Amnesty International said on Thursday. The “Between recession and repression: The rising cost of dissent in Chad” document looks at the increasing use of laws that restrict…
Parts of South Sudan have been placed under a state of emergency declared by President Salva Kiir on Monday night, although he did not give clear reasons for the sudden decision. The state of emergency is in effect for three months in Gogrial, and parts of Tonj, Wau and Aweil…
The nation of Eritrea remains one of the most repressive environments in the world for working journalists, with only North Korea ranked worse in the new Reporters Without Borders analysis released Wednesday. The 2017 World Press Freedom Index rankings are based on a range of criteria that include transparency, diversity…
There were 438 reported cases of interference with media professionals across Egypt in 2016, according to a new report from the Egyptian Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE). The annual report on Egypt’s climate of repression found that journalists across the country’s 22 provinces were among the most…
Abdoulaye Thiam, a journalist with Le Soleil in Senegal, will lead an organization of African journalists devoted to reporting on climate change until the new media group meets for its first general assembly in 2017. Thiam is among more than 70 journalists from 40 African countries who are represented in…
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on January 10 criticizing the Ugandan government and accusing them of repressing freedom of speech and association in the lead up to the presidential and parliamentary elections. Elections are due to be held on February 18 and journalists are being targeted for…